Brunch. Beach. Board Games [read: how college students catch up over Thanksgiving Break]

A wise man once said, “Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.” Actually, that was just Jim on The Office, mocking Dwight in one of his 75,000 pranks over the course of the show. Grace, Mandy, and I (you know them, right? If not, here’s a post about my friends that proves they exist) seem to have made a variation to this statement in our most recent Thanksgiving reunion: Brunch. Beach. Board games.

I went back to the great SRQ on a red-eye (well, 9 P.M., but that feels really late for the sleep-deprived) and proceeded to stay in my house for three days with my parents. Great Thanksgiving meal, lots of movie watching [read: Legally Blonde watching; those movies have never been more relevant since I joined a sorority freshman year] in the family, and setting up a Christmas tree. I crawled out from under my rock really only to see Grace and Mandy, with the offer of midmorning brunch on Siesta Key.

Isn’t she a beauty?

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Step 1: Brunch. We went to the Village Cafe on Siesta Key, locally-owned and operated. They had the best Tazo mint tea and Mandy and I both ordered meals that were baked in skillets. This is what I call quality food, can we see more of this in Boston please? Or maybe less. Something about being healthy.

Step 2: Beach. We drove over from the Siesta Key Village to the cabana and walked along the water, which was exceptionally warm for this time of year. Climate change is real. We had to explain to Grace what a meet-cute was as she stepped out of the way of a texting (therefore aloof) stranger, who was very “Nick status” attractive, and how she’d just lost that opportunity with this man. She’d only have to let him run into her, as he almost did until she moved, program her number into his phone, proceed to throw that phone across the beach (PSA: please don’t text and walk) and there you have it! Meet-cute!

Step 3: Board games. Back at Grace’s place, we played this trains game as Lauren, Grace’s older sister, made us some amazing sugar cookies because we whined about them enough. Who says you have to grow up? I lost, but did extremely well for a rookie I’m told. They could also just be stroking my ego but since I’m unnecessarily competitive, we’re going to have a rematch when I’m back in three weeks.

Which brings me to my most recent realization: I have no concept of time. Being home for Thanksgiving was wonderful and had me convinced that I only have two more weeks until Winter Break. This is false. It’s actually three weeks, as Mandy told me, and in those three weeks the temperatures will continue to cool here in Boston. So, don’t mind me as I crawl back under my apartment rock to never emerge because of the low 30s we’ve got. Unless you want to offer some brunch, beach, and board games.